Automatic screwdriver tools are common, and one standard methodology for using automatic screwdriver tools is to provide a power screwdriver that works with only single screws at a time, mate that with a specialized attachment that additionally provides a collated strip of fasteners, and make that combination work together so that the power screwdriver can work as an automatic screwdriver tool that can quickly drive a series of fasteners from the collated strip. In general, the adapter is used as a method for creating a common interface geometry on a variety of electric screwdrivers from various brands. The internal design of the adapter matches the external design of the specific power screwdriver. The external design of the adapter looks the same and interfaces with the attachment product, in which the adapter and attachment are typically provided by the same vendor.
One problem with this arrangement is that the power screwdriver cannot simply mate to an attachment without some type of adapter. Such adapters are already common in the tool industry; such adapters typically are fixedly attached to the front end of the power screwdriver, and then the opposite end of the adapter is fitted into an interior region of the attachment that holds the collated strip of fasteners.
One of the problems with such conventional attachments with adapters is that the angular orientation between the attachment and the power screwdriver cannot be changed without dismounting the attachment from the power screwdriver. In the known conventional tools, the attachment can be rotated, but only if the attachment is completely dismounted from the adapter, and then re-mounted at a different angular position. This operation requires the user of the tool combination to move his or her hands from their normal operating positions to a specific area of the attachment so that latches can be actuated to dismount the attachment from the adapter (that is itself mounted on the front end of the power screwdriver). Once the attachment has been dismounted, then it can be re-mounted to the adapter/power screwdriver combination, at a different angle. Only then can the operator put his or her hands back to their normal operating positions, and then continue working with the tool.